Books: Blind Tributes BEHIND THE SCENES

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During his four years as White House deputy chief of staff, Michael Deaver was the protector and projector of Ronald's and Nancy Reagan's public images. He was the "Vicar of Visuals," master of the carefully managed photo opportunities that became a hallmark of the Reagan Administration. Yet again and again in this intendedly affectionate memoir, he offers up intimate snapshots that undercut his previous handiwork.

Concerning the First Lady, whom Deaver describes as his best friend, he seems blind to an unseemly implication when he writes, "Nancy raised half a million dollars herself for the Joffrey Ballet, and ((Son)) Ron turned out to be one of its rising stars." Despite Nancy's attempts to downplay her influence on her husband's decisions, Deaver confirms her role in the firings of James Watt and Donald Regan.

Deaver's President is every bit the benignly self-assured, uncurious fellow portrayed by many less friendly observers. Deaver notes approvingly that Reagan was so fascinated by the craft of his neurosurgeon father-in-law, Dr. Loyal Davis, that he "could diagnose a brain tumor just by hearing the symptoms on a soap opera." On a soap opera?

Other White House insiders also suffer from Deaver's tributes. He describes Attorney General Edwin Meese as a man who would "as a matter of loyalty or conviction, sit there and deny something he knew to be true." Vice President George Bush gets high marks for calling all over the U.S. to provide a fresh joke for the President's daily briefing.

Deaver's account of his perjury conviction in a case brought by an independent counsel draws some sympathy, but his chronicle of building a lobbying business around his old contacts shows little appreciation of the fine lines of ethics and propriety he crossed. His legal appeal is still in progress, but Behind the Scenes is a clear, if inadvertent, plea of guilt to charges of naivete.